Hurricane Melissa made landfall near Chivirico in eastern Cuba early Wednesday as an "extremely dangerous" Category 3, after striking Jamaica with 185 mph winds. The storm delivered damaging winds, flooding rain and a dangerous surge, triggering evacuations of about 735,000 people and hurricane warnings for five Cuban provinces and the Bahamas. Melissa eased to 115 mph while moving northeast; forecasters warned of up to 20 inches of rain, 12-foot surge and life-threatening landslides. Jamaica reported extensive damage, four hospitals hit, widespread outages and three of seven regional deaths, as the system heads toward the Bahamas and near Bermuda.

Prepared by Emily Rhodes and reviewed by editorial team.